The investigation into the case of Russians involved in skimming has been completed in Vitebsk

The Investigative Committee Department for the Vitebsk Region has completed the investigation of a criminal case against two citizens of Russia who were installing skimming devices on ATMs in Vitebsk and Minsk. This was reported to BELTA by the official representative of the department, Inna Gorbacheva.

It has been established that the natives of Kazan, aged 29 and 32, implementing a criminal scheme they developed, arrived in Belarus, where, using skimming devices, they stole funds from residents of Vitebsk and Minsk totaling over Br80 million. During two months of criminal activity, they managed to steal money from bank payment cards belonging to more than 30 victims. In some episodes, the accused did not bring their criminal intent to completion due to circumstances beyond their control, namely, the absence of the requested amount in the victims' accounts.

The actions of the accused have been qualified under Part 1 of Article 14, Part 3 of Article 212 (attempted property theft by introducing false information into a computer system, committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, on a large scale, combined with unauthorized access to computer information), as well as under Part 1 of Article 14, Article 352 (attempted unauthorized copying of information stored in a computer system and on machine carriers, resulting in significant damage) of the Criminal Code.

The preventive measure applied to the accused has not been changed during the investigation. From the moment of detention to the present time, they have been held in custody.

The criminal case has been transferred to the prosecutor for forwarding to court.

Alena Tikhonova